Movers: Tech Stocks Decline, and Booz Allen Is Investigated

By The New York Times

June 15, 2017

We’re following major market developments throughout the day.

Tech Stocks Are Down Again

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down slightly on Thursday afternoon, with shares of technology giants leading the decline. Tech stocks have been slipping since Friday and the Nasdaq is on track for its second consecutive weekly loss.

Snap, the parent company of the social messaging app Snapchat, declined nearly 4 percent on Thursday, nearing its March initial public offering price of $17. The stock is down 28 percent since that offering, as Facebook continues to copy many of Snapchat’s most popular features.

Booz Allen Under Investigation

Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm, said on Thursday that the Justice Department was conducting an investigation related to some of its cost accounting and indirect cost charging practices with the United States government. The firm earns billions of dollars each year in intelligence work.

The company’s shares fell about 12 percent to $34.50 after the close of trading.

Bank of England Holds Rates Steady

The Bank of England took a more hawkish tone than expected on Thursday. The central bank held its main interest rate steady, but warned that inflation, after rising at a faster than expected pace in May, could remain above the central bank’s target “for an extended period.”

The central bank’s monetary policy committee voted 5 to 3 to keep its benchmark interest rate at 0.25 percent, the level since August when it was cut to a historic low.

The vote was closer than expected, with the three dissenting committee members voting for an immediate increase to 0.5 percent. Many economists had expected the central bank to keep the rate steady, but not by such a narrow vote.

The surprise split in the vote sent the pound higher against the dollar.

The Bank of England said that inflation, at 2.9 percent, had risen well above the monetary policy committee’s expectations and could exceed 3 percent by autumn. The bank considers a 2 percent inflation rate as a sign of healthy economic growth.

Inflation “is likely to remain above the target for an extended period as sterling’s depreciation continues to feed through into the prices of consumer goods and services,” the bank said in a news release.

The committee also voted to keep its bond-purchasing program at the same level — 435 billion pounds, or about $555 billion.

The decision came a day after the Federal Reserve, as expected, raised its benchmark interest rate to 1.25 percent, the third-consecutive quarterly increase by the central bank amid economic expansion in the United States. — CHAD BRAY

What to Watch For: Greek Bailout Talks

• Eurozone finance ministers, known collectively as the Eurogroup, meet in Luxembourg to discuss debt relief for Greece and the release of a new tranche of bailout funds.

• Philip Hammond, Britain’s chancellor of the Exchequer, has said he will not make a scheduled annual speech on the state of the British economy, in the wake of a fire in a London apartment tower.